– The James Beard award nominations were announced. The cookbook Smoke by Tim Byres of Smoke restaurant in Dallas was nominated, and so was Alison Cook of the Houston Chronicle based partly on her review of Corkscrew BBQ in Spring.

– The Houston BBQ Festival will have some special guests. Wayne Mueller of Louie Mueller Barbecue in Taylor and John Avila of Morgan’s Texas Barbecue in New York are bringing their meat to the festivities.

– Jack’s BBQ, a Texas style barbecue joint in Seattle, will open in June or July.

– The pit room at Scott’s BBQ in Hemingway, South Carolina was destroyed by fire last year, but the rebuilding is about to begin.

– Mike Sula wasn’t a fan of a new Chicago-area barbecue joint in this entertaining review. “You have to approach this menu like a crime scene—gingerly, deliberately, and without stepping in anything messy.”

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